Hertha Marks Ayrton Google Doodle marks 162nd birthday of “The Electric Arc” author

Google pays tribute to the first woman to present a scientific paper to London's Royal Society.

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Google is paying tribute to the first woman to read a scientific paper in front of London’s Royal Society with today’s Hertha Marks Ayrton Google doodle.

Ayrton set a historical precedent for women when she read her scientific paper, “The Origin and Growth of Ripple Marks,” presenting her findings around ripple marks left on the sand as a wave washes over it.

[blockquote cite = “Google Doodle Blog”]When a wave washes over sand, ripples will appear. This simple observation was a scientific mystery until Hertha Marks Ayrton read “The Origin and Growth of Ripple Marks” to the Royal Society in 1904.[/blockquote]

In addition to her research on ripple marks, Ayrton is credited with being a scientist, engineer, physicist and inventor. Prior to presenting her work to the Royal Society, Ayrton had already published “The Electric Arc,” a book summarizing her research within the field of electrical engineering.

Marking the British engineer’s 162nd birthday, the doodle is being displayed on a handful of Google’s international home pages, in addition to its US home page, and leads to a search for “Hertha Marks Ayrton.”


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Amy Gesenhues
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Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media, covering the latest news and updates for Search Engine Land, MarTech and MarTech Today. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs, SoftwareCEO, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.

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